


Under the Moon Light

by Darky_Parky



Series: Dark Before Dawn [5]
Category: markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Awkward situationsTM, But a lot of fluff, F/M, Gen, One Shot, Tattoo AU, The ol' gang in their days of university, You could choke on this fluff, before everything goes to hell, cliches, self-indulgent fic, you best believe The Colonel and Mark made a bet on these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-04 12:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14020524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darky_Parky/pseuds/Darky_Parky
Summary: There was a time in a different world where things were a lot happier. In this world everyone is born with a unique tattoo on their ankle, only the ones that fall for a person will share the tattoo.





	Under the Moon Light

**Author's Note:**

> So to explain it in more depth the tattoo AU is where everyone is born with a unique tattoo on their ankle. And whoever you fall in love with you will receive that person's tattoo on your body and vice versa if that person falls for you. So, let's see how Dawn handles it. . . .

Dawn Samson, daughter of Kerrigan Samson. A beautiful young lady with gorgeous green eyes, a pointed nose, and a tattoo of the sun rising on her ankle. She is a brilliant millionairess in her days of university - thanks to her supportive father.

It is quite odd for a woman in this day in age to be going to college other than looking for a man, but she didn't care. She wanted to learn more about the world around her. Much more than how to cook and how to take care of a family.

Along side Dawn were three brothers. Well, not by blood, but they were all extremely close. There was William, or more well known as the Colonel. William loved a good hunt as much as he loved a good joke. He was a very strange man, popping up almost out of nowhere and sometimes defying the laws of physics. Although, none of them really questioned this. On his ankle was a tattoo of a pistol.

There was Mark, somewhat the leader of the group. Like Dawn he was born into a wealthy family. He had an interest in theater and is even considering to be an actor. On his ankle was a tattoo of a camera.

And then there was Damien. The sweetest of the group. He is always considerate about the ones dear to him. He has spoken of a twin sister named Celine many times, however Dawn has only seen her in pictures. And Damien has a great interest in becoming a mayor and maybe the president. He wants to make the world a better place and the group agrees that he could. On his ankle was a moon. 

When Dawn showed the brothers her tattoo William and Mark laughed and then began teasing that her and Damien were meant for each other. And the teasing lasted for months on end, which Dawn wouldn't mind if she didn't have a crush on Damien. But she has managed to keep it on the down low since she wasn't  _in love_   with Damien. Now  **that**  would be hard to cover up.

* * *

Dawn awoke at the ringing of her horrid alarm. She groaned as she lazily hit the button to turn it off. She slowly sat up and rubbed her face only to have her makeup rub off on her hands. Dawn grimaced as her splitting headache hit her like a ton of bricks. Dawn held her head in pain.

She really has to stop partying like this. She went to get up to go splash some water on her face. As she did she found a handwritten note resting on her nightstand. Dawn furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion as she picked it up and unfolded it.

" _Dearest Dawn,_

 _You were quite the little monster last night. You dominated in beer pong and I can't believe you did that keg stand. But, this resulted in you passing out at the bar. So, I took you to your dorm and put you to bed. I've also taken the liberty with providing you with a glass of water and some pain killers for the hangover you are going to receive._ " Dawn looked over at the nightstand to indeed see a glass of water and two tablets. She popped the antibiotics into her mouth and gulped down the glass of water. " _I hope to see you in class today in good health._

 _-Sincerely, Damien._ "  Dawn felt her heart swell and a dopey grin spread across her face as she giggled happily. She folded the note back up and put it upon her shelf of memorable items.

She went into the bathroom to freshen up. When she passed by the mirror she had to back up to see whatever was on her shoulder. She had to lift up her untamed curly red hair to see. Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Oh no."

It was a tattoo of a moon.

* * *

Dawn paced around her room in a panic. This cannot be happening. This  **cannot**  be happening. She only has a crush on Damien. Just a silly little crush. She's not _in love_  with Damien.

Then why does she have his tattoo?!

This has to be a prank, just a silly little prank. It's probably not even permanent ink. William must have drawn it on her with marker when they were hammered.  . . . Oh, who was Dawn kidding? She's in love. That's it.

She has to cover this up. No one must know of her feelings for Damien. She will have to cover it up somehow. Maybe for the rest of her life she could wear nothing but long-sleeved clothing.

Dawn shook her head. "No, no, that's such a cliché move, they'll know before even a week has passed." But what other option does she have? Dawn's eyes wandered down to her makeup kit. She grimaced.

Makeup can be very unreliable. It could smudge, it could run off, it could be rubbed off. But, what other option does she have? 

Dawn sighed as she went to apply it.

* * *

Dawn showed up to class nearly late. She was still chewing her piece of toast and she didn't even have time to blow dry her hair or put in any product in it after her shower. It was still wet and limp.

Dawn plopped down her stuff on her desk and hurriedly sat down next to William.

He looked her up and down, seeing all of her stress and worry on her face. "My, late morning, Samson?" Dawn sighed.

"You have no idea." She sorted out her papers as the professor began his lecture. She instinctively brushed her hair behind her ear giving a small peek at her new tattoo.

William squinted. "Is that something I spy on your shoulder, Samson?" Dawn didn't look at William as she "casually" put her hand onto her shoulder.

"Pr-probably just some stray hair." William eyed Dawn suspiciously.

". . . Are you alright, Samson? You don't seem like yourself."

"I. . ." Dawn began to bounce her leg nervously. "I-I'm f-fine. Just a hang-ha-hangover." William examined Dawn closely before reaching to take her hand away from her shoulder.

"Let me see what's on your shoulder." Dawn shook her head as she held her arm tighter.

"No."

"Dawn, let me see!"

"Quit it, Will! You're going to attract attention!" she hissed.

Before William could advance in came Damien, looking even more of a mess than Dawn. There was multiple strands of hair sticking to his forehead. He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt the first three buttons were unbuttoned and it seemed he had forgotten of another button at the bottom of the shirt. Around his neck was his untied bow tie. His skin was red and he was panting heavily, he seemed to have been running. 

Dawn felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of him. She watched as he raced down the aisle to get a seat. He dropped his school supplies onto his desk and hurriedly took his seat. Dawn took in a deep breath through her nose and tried to keep herself together.

Dawn looked over to William to see him smirking knowingly. She pursed her lips together. "What?" she asked, annoyed.

"You love him, don't you, Samson?" Dawn's eyes widened.

"What? No, I-" He brushed away her hair  to reveal the moon tattoo. He grinned from ear to ear. Dawn screwed up her face as she quickly covered up the tattoo with her hand. "Tell  _anyone_   and I will kill you."

* * *

After the lesson Dawn hurriedly left the classroom as to avoid Damien and possibly avoid William. But, of course, Will somehow found a shortcut that put him smack in the middle of the herd of college students. He had a wide grin on his face.

"Well, Samson, when did you get it?" Dawn rolled her eyes as she brushed past him. He jogged to keep up with the fiery redhead.

"Will, I'd rather discuss this some other time when I'm not running in between classes."

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

"Well, first of all it's an extremely personal question, too personal to be discussing in a crowd like this. Second, I'm going to be late if I keep talking to you."

"Samson, this is college. Nobody judges you on being late anymore."

"Will, you're one of my dearest friends, but I'm not going to risk losing valuable notes over you."

"Well, then, can we talk of this over lunch?" Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"Nobody else?"

"Nobody else. I promise."

"Well, alright. I have been meaning to try that new burger place not too far from the campus."

"Great! So it's a date."

"It's a date." Dawn ran pass William and William hurried along to his own class. 

* * *

After Dawn spent two more hours in stuffy classrooms, listening to boring lectures she met William outside so that he could drive them to lunch.

"Ah, Samson, good to see that you didn't decide to put off our plans." He spun his keys around his index finger as Dawn smiled.

"Of course, why would I?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe you much rather gawk at Damien." Dawn's face turned a bright shade of pink as she darted her eyes.

"I was not  _gawking_  at him. I was merely observing."

"Observing quite closely." Dawn playfully punched William in the arm.

"Shut up." Will only laughed as they both hopped into the car and William drove off to the promised restaurant.

"So, Samson, tell me, when did you get it?"

 "Uh. . . well. . ." Dawn tried to recall when exactly she got the tattoo. She looked through her very hazy memories from last night, she remembered doing that keg stand and then regretting it, but nothing of the tattoo appearing. Dawn shrugged. "I guess I got it this morning."

"This morning? Huh, I presumed that this has been going on for a month or so by now." Dawn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"A month?" She laughed. "What gave you that idea, Will?"

William smirked. "Do you think I don't see the way you look at him, Samson? You practically melt at the sight of him." Dawn stared down at the floor in embarrassment as she fiddled with her hands. "Oh, now, Samson, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You should be happy, you're in love!"

"Why?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why should I be happy about falling in love?"

"Because you have the ability to." Dawn drew her eyebrows together.

"Doesn't everybody?" 

"Many people have gone down in history, Samson with just their ankle tattoo. Not just because they couldn't find the right person, they just couldn't fall in love. The fact that you can is wonderful!" The car went silent as Dawn soaked this in.

Then something popped into her mind. "William, have you ever been in love?"

"Ah, no. It's just been me and my revolver. But I do feel sorrowful for the ones who have fallen for me. For I am a stoic man who may never know the feeling of love."

"Don't be such a pessimist, Will. We're still young. And there's still many people out there. You still have a great chance to fall in love."

William shrugged. "Only time will tell."

* * *

The two soon arrived at the restaurant and continued their conversation on the tattoo. Throughout it Dawn grew more and more worried. She rubbed her arm subconsciously.

"William, we have been talking endlessly on my tattoo. But, what of Damien's? Does he have a tattoo?"

"Damien has many due to his huge heart." Dawn shook her head.

"No, I mean, does he have  **my**  tattoo?" Colonel opened his mouth to speak but closed it shortly after. He stroked his chin as he examined Dawn's ankle.

William hummed in thought. "If he does I've never seen it." William smiled mischievously. "What if he has it on his-"

Dawn gasped and shoved the Colonel. "William!"

William laughed. "What? It is entirely possible."

"But it is not appropriate for public conversation." William waved his hand dismissively. 

"To hell for what's appropriate and what's not appropriate! As Mark would say, 'life is for the living'. So let us live!"

* * *

After lunch the two friends drove back to the campus, early for their last class of the day. Dawn was having ever so much fun that she forgot all about her new tattoo and even considered trying to catch Mark and Damien before class. But William brought up her drastic change of heart, putting her back into dilemma.

"Will, what am I going to do about this tattoo?"

"Well, you can always be out with it." 

"Are you nuts?! I can't show it to Damien!" Colonel knitted his eyebrows together and put his hands on his hips.

"And why not?"

Dawn's mouth grew dry as she thought of all of the horrible possibilities. "W-What if he doesn't feel the same way? Wha-what if he stops liking me? What if it ruins our fr-friend-friendship forever? What if-" William placed his hands onto Dawn's shoulders.

"Samson, calm down. There's no reason for you to be so scared. This is Damien we're speaking of. I'm sure he loves you as you him. And if he doesn't there's nothing to be worried about. Damien won't hate you because you happened to fall for him and it won't ruin your relationship with him either. It will probably just become another silly story." Dawn nodded as she slowly took in this information.

She rubbed her arm subconsciously. "I-I just don't think I'm ready."

"That's all right. You can tell him when you're comfortable. Until then, your secret is safe with me." Dawn smiled softly.

"Thank you, Will." William escorted Dawn to class.

* * *

 During the next class Dawn could swear the tattoo was throbbing like horrible injury. And it became stronger and stronger as each second passed by. It was to the point where it was starting to hurt. With each throb she saw an image of Damien and the look of disappointment, disgust, and. . . sadness. Those were the images she connected with the unavoidable conversation of her new tattoo.

It was driving her insane. All she wanted to do was scream. It was like the beating of the hideous heart beneath the floorboards. And we all know how that story ended. It ended with the killer admitting to his ingenious plan.

Dawn swallowed hard as William's words swam in her mind.

" _There's no reason for you to be so scared. This is Damien we're speaking of._ "

The bell rang and class was concluded. Dawn almost jumped in her seat as she saw her peers shuffling and placing their items into their bags. Dawn took in a deep breath as she soon followed suit.

She will just have to come out with this. She's barely had the tattoo for a day and it's already hanging over her head like a guillotine. Dawn's palms became sweaty and her heart pounded as she thought about doing this.

There at the edge of the hallway, was Damien struggling to fit another book into his bag. Dawn took in a deep breath before approaching him.

She smiled nervously. "Hey, Damien." Damien glanced up at Dawn before continuing trying to put his book in his bag.

"Hey, Dawn." Dawn tried to swallow again, but she found out that her mouth has gone dry.

"I. . . uh, I was thinking and. . . ." Damien looked up with her with a raised eyebrow. "Um. . . do you need help?"

"Oh, yes, yes, please." Damien handed Dawn his bag and she examined it closely, trying to see if she could make room for the book. The first thing she saw was a large notebook, taking up a lot of the space.

"Um, do you mind if I take this notebook out? I think if I do that you can fit the book in."

"Go ahead." Dawn took the notebook out and Damien placed the book inside. Damien went to take the notebook from Dawn's hands but she stopped him.

"Uh, I was thinking. . . I could walk you to your dorm and hold your notebook for you."

Damien seemed a bit dumbfounded at first before he nodded. "Okay, y-yes, that sounds like a plan." Dawn felt like she was in her awkward teen years again. She hated the feeling.

The two walked down the dispersing hallway toward the exit of the building. "So. . . Damien, I. . . ."

"I know what you're going to say." 

"Y-You do?"

"Yeah. You got a new tattoo, didn't you?" Dawn let out a small breath and nodded.

"Yes. I just got it this morning and-"

Damien turned to Dawn and looked deep into her eyes. "I'm happy for you."

"What?"

"I'm happy for you. I'm glad you found a good person to love." Dawn laughed slightly before seeing the sadness behind Damien's eyes.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Damien, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I couldn't be happier. I mean, you and William seem like you're going to be a great couple-"

"Wait, what?"

"You and William? I saw you two in the hallway this morning talking about a date." Dawn's eyes widened.

"Oh, no, no, Damien, we're not a couple." Damien raised an eyebrow.

Damien stopped abruptly. "You're not?" Dawn smiled as she shook her head. "Then who. . . ?"

"Who do you think?"

". . . Mark?" Dawn rolled her eyes as she brushed away her hair to reveal the tattoo. Damien's eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh! Oh, I. . . I did not expect that." Fear spiked Dawn as she just realized what she just did. She covered her arm with her hand subconsciously. "But I guess I didn't really expect this either." Damien turned around and pulled down his collar to reveal on the nape of his neck a rising sun.

Dawn giggled as Damien turned around smiling brightly. Dawn threw her arms around his shoulders and held him tightly, feeling a giant weight being lifted off of her shoulders as Damien wrapped his arms around her in return. And they stood like that for a long moment, enjoying each other's embrace until they heard the Colonel bellow from down the hall:

"IF YOU TWO DON'T KISS I WILL LOSE TWENTY DOLLARS!" Dawn took her head off of Damien's shoulder so that she could look at him.

"Should we not kiss just to see the look on William's face?"

Damien smiled. "It's tempting. But I have to pass." Damien closed the space between Dawn and him and the world fell away. The sound of Mark's groan and William's victorious cheer was replaced by a blissful silence. All was well in the world.

* * *

Decades later Dawn is left with the moon tattoo on her shoulder, a scar on her calf that reminded her of that. . . thing, and once happy memories that now served her only bitterness.

Mark is gone. William is insane. And Damien and Celine. . . .

Dawn felt a rush of cold air pass her and a piercing ring sounded throughout the Void. Dawn did not look behind for she knew already who was there.

She took in a shaky breath before speaking. Her voice cracking slightly as she blinked rapidly to get rid of the upcoming tears. "Why? Why do you keep coming back? I've told you. I don't love you. And no matter what you do I will never love you like I loved him."

" _Time, my dear,_ " he spoke as he approached her. " _Everything comes with time._ "

"And how long are going to wait?"

" _I am willing to wait for you for eternity and longer. As long as I know that eventually you will love me as I love you._ " There was a long moment of silence before Dark spoke once again. " _Please, Dawn, at least look at me._ " Dawn shook her head. Dark turned her around forcefully, a spark of anger behind his eyes. " _Look at me!"_ His eyes softened as he realized what he had just done. He took a step back and put his hands behind his back. " _I apologize. I'm working on my anger issues._ "

Dawn looked down at her feet as to not let him see her glossy green eyes. "It's a lot better than last week."

" _Listen, I know you're upset with me-_ "

"I'm not upset with you. I'm just. . ."

" _Just what?"_

"I-It's complicated. I'm not upset. I'm not angry. I'm. . . I'm just sad. Every time I see you, I get depressed. And it's not about what you do. It's about who you are and who you used to be. My heart wrenches every time I see you, because all see is a man I once knew and loved now gone."

" _Dawn, it doesn't have to be this way._ "

"And how could it change? There is nothing we can do to change our past." Dark brushed Dawn's hair behind her ear.

" _You forget we can always change the future._ " The ringing grew louder and louder as the faintest of smiles grew on Dark's lips before Dawn finally opened her eyes. She found herself once again in her dark bedroom. 

She slowly sat up and rubbed her face. She let out a small sigh as she rubbed her opposite arm, feeling a slight tingle on her shoulder. She got up to go to the bathroom to examine it, hoping that it isn't a bug bite.

She flicked the light switch on and examined her arm. And she found something much worse than a bug bite. There was tattoo on her arm. This one was of a broken black heart, one side highlighted by blue the other by red.

"Shit."

**Author's Note:**

> All right! That's kind of a cheesy ending, but y'know it's not "canon". Although if it was in the same universe. . . would it be canon? I mean this is a fanfiction. . . .  
> I'm thinking too deeply on this. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this as much I liked to write the romantic cliches. And happy Easter!


End file.
